Orient
by Courier999
Summary: In 19th century Japan, a young woman joins the Assassin Order seeking revenge. Along the way, she must decide whether her loyalties lie with the Assassins or her country as Europe builds its empire in Asia. Rated T for violence, language, and complex themes. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

ASSASSIN'S CREED: Orient

_Assassin's Creed_ is property of Ubisoft Interactive. Kasumi Miyamoto is my property.

SEQUENCE 1: THICKER THAN WATER

JAPAN, 1850:

"_Kasumi! Kyatchi!_" (Kasumi! Catch!) a child shouted.

"_No wa, Hikaru o sakebu hitsuyō wa arimasen. Watashi wa koko ni tatte imasu._" (No need to shout, Hikaru. I'm standing right here.) Kasumi replied.

"_Kasumi wa, shokuji no junbi ga dekite iru!_" (Kasumi, the meal is ready!) a woman shouted.

"_Kite, okāsan!_" (Coming, mother!) Kasumi yelled, running back to her house.

At the table, Kasumi and her family were engaged in some interesting conversation.

"_Anata wa shōgun Imamura rōnin no kare no bando o tsukawashita koto o kiita koto ga arimasu ka?_" (Have you heard that Warlord Imamura has sent forth his bands of ronin?) her father asked.

"_Karera wa mura no chikaku ni arimasu ka?_" (Are they near the village?) Kasumi's elder brother asked.

"_Watashi wa, karera ga iru koto o osorete iru._" (I fear that they are.) Kasumi's father replied.

Suddenly, screaming came from outside.

"_Rōnin! Nigeru!_" (Ronin! Flee!) a man shouted.

A flaming arrow hit the house.

"_Kasumi! Nigete! Teishi shinaide kudasai!_" (Kasumi! Run away! Do not stop!) her father yelled.

Kasumi ran out of the house and kept running. Once she was a safe distance away, she watched as her village burned. Just then, a tall man grabbed her by the shoulders.

"_Anata dare?_" (Who are you?) the man asked

*ANIMUS AUDIO TRANSLATION: ON*

"My name is Kasumi Miyamoto. Daughter of Hikaru Miyamoto. A loyal servant of the emperor. You shall _Watashi no te de shinu_ (die by my hand)." Kasumi announced.

"Kill her." the man ordered.

Kasumi punched her captor and fled deep into the woods. The next morning, she approached the remains of her village. At the smoldering remains of her house, she found a note:

*ANIMUS WRITTEN TRANSLATION: ON*

_Kasumi, I am dying. Your brother lies dead. As the house burns, there is one item that shall remain untouched by fire. It is the iron chest in my room. Open it._

_With regret:_

_Your father_

Kasumi found the chest and opened it. Donning the dark purple/gray robes within, she picked up a _ninjato_ and swung it a few times.

"Warlord Imamura, your reckoning has come." Kasumi murmured.

Throwing the hood of the robes up over her head, Kasumi began her revenge.


	2. Chapter 2

SEQUENCE 2: BLOOD OF THE CREED

*ANIMUS AUDIO TRANSLATION: ON*

KYOTO, 1850:

Kasumi ran along the rooftops. Only a few weeks ago, she had sworn an oath of vengeance and donned the robes. Now, she was hunting Imamura in the city of Kyoto. Using her "sixth sense", she saw the warlord standing near a warehouse. Jumping off the roof, she readied the blade that she had gotten from the chest…and promptly missed Imamura, flawing to the street.

"Imamura, do you know who I am?" Kasumi asked.

"No." the warlord answered.

"My name is Kasumi Miyamoto, the survivor of the village of Tetsu Taki, which was destroyed by the ronin under your command." Kasumi replied.

Imamura was silent.

"You die now!" Kasumi yelled.

BANG! Imamura fired a gun at Kasumi, severely wounding her. She staggered around, and then fell.

Kasumi awoke on a bed. Above her was a young man wearing a white robe with a hood.

"Where am I?" Kasumi asked.

"You are in the Assassins' Den of this city." the man answered.

"Who are you?" Kasumi asked.

"I am Akihiko Goto, Grand Master of the Assassins' Order of Nippon." the man answered.

"Why did you save me?" Kasumi asked again.

"Your robes. They are of Hikaru Miyamoto." Akihiko replied.

"My father was a mere farmer." Kasumi retorted.

"Is that what he told you?" Akihiko asked.

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked back.

"Your father was an Assassin." Akihhiko answered.

A long pause ensued.

"What is your name, daughter of Hikaru Miyamoto?" Akihiko asked.

"Kasumi." Kasumi answered.

"Once you have recovered, you shall begin training." Akihiko announced.

Kasumi coughed, and fell asleep once more.

When she awakened again, she noticed a statue of a tall man wearing a hooded longcoat. The inscription read:

_Connor Kenway_

_1755-1825_

_Founder of the current Assassins' Order of Nippon_

Kasumi went back to sleep. When she awoke a third time, Akihiko was standing over her.

"Am I well enough?" Kasumi asked.

"Barely. You shall begin training at sunrise tomorrow." Akihiko answered.


	3. Chapter 3

SEQUENCE 3: SHADOWS IN THE MOONLIGHT

*ANIMUS AUDIO TRANSLATION- ON*

Kasumi charged at the training dummy with both her hidden blades extended. One sank into its neck, the other into its stomach. Akihiko gave a slow clap.

"Impressed, sensei?" Kasumi asked.

"Not quite. Now, you learn to hide in plain sight. I shall not be with you for this." Akihiko answered.

Stepping out of the den and into the streets, Kasumi promptly went to the marketplace as per Akihiko's orders. Now, she was training in the ways of the thief and the ninja- the agents of stealth and subterfuge. Approaching a stall selling poultry, Kasumi snuck up behind a bystander and picked his pocket. Grinning, she placed the 50 _Mon_ that her victim had been carrying into her own coinpurse.

"Stop thief!" the man cried.

Kasumi bolted up onto the rooftops and proceeded to free-run her way back to the den. Once she returned, she gave Akihiko the money.

"Kasumi, we shall now discuss the Order's history." Akihiko announced.

Kasumi sighed and took a seat.

"Our Order has had a long history. In the Holy Land during what the Europeans call the Third Crusade, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad saved the Levantine Assassins from one of their own and then controlled it himself. Barely three centuries ago, Ezio Auditore brought down the Templars in Italy and the Ottoman Empire. And scarcely a century prior, Connor Kenway defeated the Templars in the United States and thens sailed here to rebuild our Order." Akihiko lectured.

"Sensei, who are the Templars?" Kasumi asked.

"They are our arch-enemies. Whereas we seek to free men's minds, they seek to control. And here in _Ajia_ (Asia), they have control." Akihiko answered.

"Who is among them?" Kasumi asked.

"Imamura." Akihiko answered.

Kasumi's eyes flashed with righteous fury.

"When shall I kill him?" Kasumi asked.

"At the New Year's Festival." Akihiko answered.

"I shall go there and make him pay for his deeds." Kasumi vowed.

"But he shall be surrounded by guards." Akihiko replied.

"Then how shall I strike?" Kasumi asked.

"You shall be like shadows in the moonlight. Your footsteps like leaves upon the wind. Your blade will be a silver sliver, and Imamura's blood shall flow like a crimson river." Akihiko answered.


	4. Chapter 4

SEQUENCE 4: …EVERYTHING IS PERMITTED

*ANIMUS AUDIO TRANSLATION: ON*

A few weeks later, Kasumi watched from a rooftop as fireworks went off. Meanwhile, Imamura was arguing with a street vendor.

"I have no more money!" the vendor pleaded.

"You insolent dog! I am your master!" Imamura yelled.

"Give me more time!" the vendor pleaded again.

Just then, one of Imamura's guards thrust his wakizashi into the vendor's chest. Kasumi readied her bow, aiming at one of the guards. She drew the string and flexed the bow. The notched arrow flew through the air and embedded itself in the guard's jugular. Imamura turned around and noticed the body.

"Sentries! We are under attack!" Imamura yelled.

Kasumi leaped off the rooftop, extending her hidden blades as she descended upon the Templar warlord. Imamura's body broke her fall, and then the blades connected with his neck.

"What do you want?" Imamura wheezed.

"Your death. And I have gotten it." Kasumi replied, thrusting one of the blades into her victim's jugular.

Kasumi's mouth broadened into a sadistic grin as Imamura breathed his last. Just then, one of Imamura's guards approached her.

"You are a dead man!" the guard exclaimed.

"Wrong." Kasumi replied, holding a smoke bomb in her hand.

The bomb hit the street and exploded, unleashing a cloud of acrid smoke. While the guards were distracted, Kasumi leaped back up onto the rooftops and sprinted back to the Den. When she got there, Akihiko was there- and he did not look pleased.

"Kasumi, do you know the meaning of the Three Tenets of our Creed?" Akihiko asked.

"What?" Kasumi asked.

If looks could kill, Akihiko's would have caused Kasumi to drop dead instantly.

"Do you not know of the Creed?" Akihiko asked.

"I didn't know we had one." Kasumi answered.

Akihiko sighed loudly.

"I blame myself for not teaching it to you. Pay attention, for you have already violated one of the Tenets." Akihiko ordered.

"Yes, Sensei." Kasumi replied.

Akihiko inhaled sharply and began.

"The Tenets are our fetters. They keep us from falling to the level of the Templars. The first Tenet is to stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. To kill an innocent is to besmirch the reputation of our Brotherhood. The second is to hide in plain sight. You violated this one by being seen approaching Imamura. The final Tenet is to never compromise the Brotherhood. If you were to betray us, we would kill you." Akihiko lectured.

"Is that the whole Creed?" Kasumi asked.

"No. There are the Three Ironies. We seek to promote peace, but commit murder. We seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to rules. Lastly, we seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet practice it ourselves. As Altair wrote, one can be two things- opposite in every way – simultaneously." Akihiko continued.

Kasumi was stunned.

"Is there another part?" Kasumi asked.

"Yes. Our Maxim. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. In the words of Ezio Auditore, 'To say that nothing is true, is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say that everything is permitted, is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic.' Or as Altair wrote, our Creed does not command us to be free. It commands us to be wise." Akihiko answered.

Kasumi was silent as she went back to her room for the night, thinking about the Creed, the Order, and Imamura's death.


	5. Chapter 5

SEQUENCE FIVE: A FOOT IN THE DOOR

*ANIMUS AUDIO TRANSLATION: ON*

HONG KONG: 1852

Kasumi's eyes darted around the crowded marketplace. Having just barely reached the rank of Initiate, she was stalking one of Hong Kong's new British overlords- Charles Baker, the head of the military forces stationed there and a Templar to boot. The cries of the vendors rattled around in her ears.

"Over here, lady!" a man shouted. His accent was unmistakably American, and judging from the sound of it, he was from Boston. Kasumi eyed him warily, as his hood covered his face all too well.

"What do you want?" Kasumi replied.

The man bolted up on to the rooftops. Kasumi followed him.

"Who are you?" Kasumi yelled.

"Friend or foe?" the man asked.

"Foe if you're a Templar." Kasumi replied.

The man stopped, turned around, and approached Kasumi. He dropped his hood, revealing the face of a young man. His green eyes danced in their sockets. A short crop of auburn hair adorned his head, while a handlebar mustache adorned his face.

"Who are you?" Kasumi asked again.

"My name is Troy Church." the man announced.

Kasumi put her hidden blade to his neck.

"The Third Tenet, miss." Troy wisecracked.

Kasumi raised the blade away.

"So, you're an Assassin." Kasumi remarked.

"Where'd you come from, dragon lady?" Troy snarked.

"While I am flattered by your compliment, I do have a name. Kasumi Miyamoto, Initiate of the Assassins' Order of Nippon." Kasumi replied.

Troy was thunderstruck for two reasons. First, his first meeting in Hong Kong had been with a fellow Assassin. Second, said Assassin was a Japanese woman.

"How long have you been in Hong Kong?" Troy asked.

"A few days." Kasumi answered.

"What brings you here?" Troy asked.

"A man named Baker." Kasumi answered.

"Bringing down the limey who runs this city? You'll need to get in line." Troy replied.

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked.

"The Templars didn't take kindly to his going rogue." Troy answered.

"So does that mean you're here to protect him?" Kasumi asked.

"He's no friend to the Assassins, though. His only concern is himself." Troy replied.

That night, the two Assassins began their approach to Baker's base of operations. Kasumi was the first to get in. Leaping from a rooftop, she landed in a convenient haystack. Her "sixth sense" kicked in. A British soldier approached the haystack. Kasumi lunged out and put him in a sleeper hold. She proceeded to climb up the wall of one of the buildings, searching for her target. After several minutes of climbing, she noticed that the man whose office she was staring into had a faint golden glow around him.

In his office, Charles Baker was toying with a golden sphere when he heard the window open. He felt a soft touch on his shoulder. He turned around and noticed a woman in robes standing near the window.

"Who are you?" Baker asked.

No answer.

"What do you want from me?" Baker pleaded.

Just then, a hooded man kicked down the door.

"Day of reckoning's come for ya, Charlie Baker." the man announced.

"Troy Church?" Baker asked.

"You're a dead man, Templar." Troy quipped.

Before he could react, Kasumi drove her hidden blades into Baker's back and neck.

"Damn…Yankees-" Baker wheezed as he died.

Kasumi picked up the sphere on his desk.

"Any idea what this is?" Kasumi asked.

"Piece of Eden." Troy answered.

"What?" Kasumi replied.

"Relics from the Precursors." Troy explained.

"What's a Precursor?" Kasumi asked.

"In this case, it's the First Civilization. Beings of such great power we hail them as gods." Troy continued.

Satisfied with this explanation, Kasumi put the Piece of Eden down the front of her robes and left through the window. Troy followed her.


	6. Chapter 6

SEQUENCE SIX: DAMN YANKEES

*ANIMUS AUDIO TRANSLATION: ON*

EDO: 1853

Kasumi sat on a rooftop overlooking Uraga Harbor as gulls darted around in the sky. Some of them flocked toward her as she removed some stale rice bread from a pouch on her robes' belt. Just then, she heard a cry from below. Looking toward the harbor, she saw large black ships approaching the shore. They resembled ones that she had seen in Hong Kong.

Kasumi leapt down from the rooftop, landing on the canopy of a vendor's stall. Navigating the growing crowd, she noticed one ship deploying smaller rowboats. As they landed, she watched as the local constabulary took the crew in. She approached one young man, bedecked in a navy blue uniform.

"_Kun je spreken Nederlands?_" (can you speak Dutch?) Kasumi asked in that language.

The young man was silent.

"_Français?_" (French?) Kasumi asked again.

Silence.

"English?" Kasumi asked a third time.

"Yes." the man answered.

Just then, Kasumi heard Akihiko whistle for her. Approaching her Mentor, Kasumi awaited new orders.

"Kasumi, we are going aboard one of those black ships." Akihiko announced.

"When?" Kasumi asked.

"Tonight." Akihiko answered.

That night, Kasumi and Akihiko climbed into a rowboat and went out to the largest of the vessels. Coming around the back, Kasumi deftly leaped out of the smaller boat and onto the ship's stern. Scaling it, she climbed onto the deck and was promptly surrounded by armed men.

"Oy! They've sent a boarding party!" one man shouted.

"Damn you, Commodore Perry! I knew the Japanese would try somethin' funny!" another yelled.

Just then, a larger man approached them.

"Mister Gibson, care to explain why you wish to see me damned?" the man asked.

"Sorry sir! Won't happen again, sir!" Gibson exclaimed.

One of the other men approached Kasumi and clapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists.

"What shall we do with the boarder?" Gibson asked.

"Throw 'im into the sea!" a trio of marines enthusiastically yelled.

"Put the boarder in the brig. We don't want to start a war." Commodore Perry ordered.

Amidst the trio's boos, hisses, and assorted jeers, Kasumi was escorted to the brig of the USS _Susquehanna_. Upon arriving there, she was led into a cell and locked up.

"Let me out!" Kasumi yelled in Japanese, Dutch, and English.

In his quarters, Commodore Perry poured a glass of whiskey from a bottle with a triangular logo. Turning around, he noticed a man with auburn hair and a handlebar mustache.

"Permission to speak freely, sir." the man requested.

"Troy, you can speak freely to me in private." Commodore Perry replied.

"Commodore, I have reason to believe that our boarder is a member of the Brotherhood." Troy began.

"Troy, you're forgetting that I'm not acquainted with whatever secret society you're a member of." Commodore Perry replied.

"Sir, she's a member of the Assassin Order." Troy summarized.

A long pause ensued.

"What makes you think our boarder is a she?" Commodore Perry asked.

"Just a hunch based off experience." Troy answered.

Another long pause.

"Troy, you have my permission to visit her in the brig." Commodore Perry announced.

Meanwhile, Akihiko was scaling the stern. Upon arriving on the deck, he was surrounded by marines.

"We're being boarded again!" Gibson shouted.

The marines raised their rifles. Akihiko smirked.

"Don't try anything funny or I'll blow yer head clean off!" Gibson announced.

Akihiko extended his hidden blades.

"I believe that you have a saying that what can be best attributed to ignorance should not be attributed to malice." Akihiko deadpanned.

"What's that supposed ta mean?" a marine asked.

"I'm a member of the Assassins." Akihiko answered.

Two of the marines charged at Akhihiko and were promptly relieved of their rifles.

"Give 'em back!" one of them yelled.

Akihiko tossed the guns overboard.

"That's gov'ment property!" a sailor yelled.

Gibson charged with a Bowie knife in hand. Yawning, Akihiko casually disarmed the marine and threw him onto the deck.

"As you say, cry uncle." Akihiko demanded.

Just then, Troy emerged onto the deck.

"What's with the noise?" Troy demanded.

"We got ourselves another one!" Gibson explained, pausing to spit out the blood from the beating he had just received.

Troy looked over the man.

"Mentor, these men know not what they do." Troy whispered.

"I know." Akihiko replied.

"We have opened the door to the Orient for all now." Troy stated.

"That means the Templars will come." Akihiko swore.

"We will be ready for them, Mentor." Troy replied.


	7. Chapter 7

SEQUENCE 7: TRIPPED OUT

*ANIMUS AUDIO TRANSLATION: ON*

SHANGHAI: 1856

Kasumi Miyamoto (now a Footpad) and Troy Church sat upon a rooftop overlooking their target- a corrupt local magistrate who was a supporter of the Templars.

"How do we take him out?" Troy asked.

Kasumi produced several shuriken from a pouch on her robes.

"Throwing stars?" Troy asked.

"They're a distraction." Kasumi answered.

As the magistrate and his guards went around the corner, Kasumi leaped from the rooftop and sank her hidden blades into two of the guards' necks. Troy killed another with a rope dart. Just then, one of the guards hit Kasumi in the head, giving the magistrate a window of opportunity to flee toward the nearest opium den.

"After him!" Troy yelled, pointing in the direction the magistrate had fled.

Several minutes later, Kasumi walked into the opium den. Wanting to seem inconspicuous, she poured herself a glass of brandy and grabbed a hookah, from which she inhaled. After roughly 10 minutes of this, the Piece of Eden she carried turned itself on.

"Funny…" Kasumi slurred.

Before her eyes, the walls of the opium den turned a metallic green and rippled to the touch. Most of the patrons turned into man-shaped clouds of smoke. Brightly colored lights flashed, and an attractive young woman wearing a kimono appeared.

"Who are you?" Kasumi asked.

"I am Amaterasu, ancestor to the Emperor. I am of Those Who Came Before, and I wish to guide you." the woman asked.

Kasumi looked the interloper over.

"Where'd you come from, Amaterasu?" Kasumi asked, slurring.

Amaterasu faded away, leaving Kasumi behind. The delirious Assassin dragged herself toward her target, following the mysterious golden trail that only she seemed to see. At the end of it was the magistrate, who now looked like an _oni_ to Kasumi.

"Can I help you?" the magistrate asked.

Kasumi extended her hidden blades and stabbed the magistrate.

"Murder!" a man exclaimed.

Kasumi broke down a door and fled the opium den. Upon entering an alleyway, she passed out. Some time later, Troy found her unconscious form and dragged her to the nearest Assassin Den for treatment.


End file.
